Performance at Month End

Merrill Lynch UK Inv Tst PLC 13 February 2002 MONTHLY PERFORMANCE MERRILL LYNCH UK INVESTMENT TRUST plc All information is at 31 January 2002 and unaudited. Performance at month end with net income reinvested One Three One Three Five month months year years years Net asset value -3.0% 1.9% -27.0% -14.1% 12.7% Share price -3.1% 3.6% -27.8% -21.1% 2.4% FTSE All-Share Index -1.0% 3.7% -15.5% -0.6% 35.8% Sources: Merrill Lynch Investment Managers, Standard & Poor's Micropal At month end Net asset value* 883.05p Share price: 790.00p Discount: 10.5% Total assets: £161.7m Net Yield: 3.8% Gearing: 32.3% Effective gearing: 23.2% Value of debt: £39.5m Ordinary shares in issue: 13,868,562 *Includes current year net revenue of 2.40p UK Sectors % Total Assets Financials 27.3 Cyclical Services 17.7 Non-Cyclical Consumer Goods 14.1 Non-Cyclical Services 13.4 Resources 12.4 Basic Industries 2.9 General Industrials 2.3 Information Technology 2.2 Utilities 0.7 Cash 8.1 Net current liabilities (1.1) Total 100.0 Ten Largest Equity Investments Company % Investments BP Amoco 8.1 Barclays 6.2 Vodafone 6.0 GlaxoSmithKline 5.0 AstraZeneca 4.9 Royal Bank of Scotland 4.2 HSBC 4.2 HBOS 3.2 Amersham 3.0 BSkyB 2.9 Total 47.7 Market commentary UK Stockmarket Review The FTSE All Share Index fell 1.0%, driven by the poor performance of cyclical growth shares. After performing well during the fourth quarter of 2001, they proved weaker than their more defensive counterparts during January. Fund Performance Review The Company's Net Asset Value (NAV) underperformed over the month, falling by 3.0%. Gearing and other charges represented 1.0% of the relative underperformance. In general, the Trust suffered from the tilt towards cyclical shares, in a month when sentiment rotated towards defensives. The holding in BSkyB underperformed, partly on concerns over its stake in the German pay-TV company, Kirch. Telecoms shares performed poorly after Energis issued a profits warning, causing the shares of all second-tier telecoms operators to suffer. In particular, the Trust's holding in Telewest adversely affected performance, as investors lost confidence in the company's financial position. The negative effect of the overweight position in mm02 was offset by the positive impact of the underweight stance in Vodafone. Although the large position in BT Group was negative, we intend to maintain an emphasis on this share. In our view, it is attractively valued relative to its international peers. In addition, its shares currently reflect no upside as a result of restructuring, which we expect to have a positive impact on earnings growth. Outlook We expect the UK economy to show signs of recovery this year, although corporate earnings growth is likely to be modest. In the short term, stockmarket valuations are vulnerable, so the Trust's cyclical tilt has been tempered. However, we are keen to begin gradually increasing this again, as setbacks give rise to opportunities, so that the Trust is positioned appropriately to benefit when optimism about 2003's earnings is reflected in valuations later this year. Latest information is available by typing www.mlim.co.uk/its on the internet, 'MLIMINDEX' on Reuters, 'MLIM' on Bloomberg or '8800' on Topic 3 (ICV terminal). 13 February 2002 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
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